Fire extinguisher and alarm



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.-

. 0. KELLS, Jr.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER AND ALARM.

No. 375,636. Patented Dec. 27, 1887.

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2 Sheets-Sheet -2.

(No Model.)

0.1:. KELLS, Jr.

FIRE BX'IINGUISHER AND ALARM.

Patented Dec.- 27, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES EDMUND KELLS, JR, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

FIRE EXTiNGUlSHER AND ALARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,636, dated December 27, 1887.

Application filed November 6, 1886. Serial No. 218,189. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES EDMUND KELLs, Jr., of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Fire Extinguishers and Alarms, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of fire extinguishers in which a fire-extinguishing fluid is automatically discharged upon the fire by the action of a thermostat.

The object of my invention is to provide a portable apparatus, and to improve the construction of fire-extinguishing apparatus'and render its operation more reliable and effective. These ends I attain by certain improvements in the details of construction and by a novel organization of the apparatus.

My invention is shown as applied to an apparatus in which an acid is mixed with an alkaline solution, whereby a gas is generated that forces the solution from a tank and is delivered through a dischargepipe; but some features of my invention are not thus limited in their application, as they may be applied to other systems.

Inthe accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view of my improvements embodied in a portable apparatus. Fig. 2 shows a stationary apparatus, and Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate an improved acid-bottle and its support.

The portable apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 consists of a tank, A, provided with attaching devicessuch as hooks a-by which it may be suspended by links a, or similar devices, from the ceiling or wall of a room. In the upper part of the tank is located an acid-bottle, B, preferably suspended in a frame, 0, having a wedge shaped or knife-edge cross-piece or support, 0, on which the bottle rests. The bottle B is preferably made to taper from the neck (which is straight) to the bottom, and is provided on both sides and along the bottom with a groove, b, whereby the thickness of the bottle is decreased in a continuous line across the bottom and upward on each side. This arrangement permits of the bottle being split more readily.

As shown in Figs. 3 and i, the frame 0 is preferably attached to a screw-threaded stopper, 0, that fits in a correspondingly screwthreaded opening, 0 in the top of the tank.

The stopper is provided with an opening, a,

end of the rod D, which has a collar, (1, that rests on the top of the neck. The top or outer end of the rod is preferably provided with an enlarged removable head, d. Aspiral spring, cl, surrounding the rod, is interposed between the top of the bottle and the bottom of the stopper, whereby the bottle is held firmly in.

place in its frame G. The stopper 0, carrying the frame 0, and the bottle may be readily removed from the tank, and the bottle may be removed from its frame by slipping it to one side and withdrawing it from the rod. The rod may be withdrawn from the stopper by removing the head (I.

A hammer, E, is pivoted to the top of the tank at e, and is normally heldin'engagement with the armature F of the electro-magnet G by means of interlocking catches f g on the hammer-head and armature, respectively. A spring, f, secured to the top of the tank and bearing against the under side of the hammerarm throws the hammer over upon the head (1 of the rod D, when the armature is attracted away from engagement with the hammer by the electro-magnet G. The blow on the rod -D causes it to descend and force the bottle B down upon the sharp cross-piece c, which rests in the groove b, thereby splitting the bottle frombottom to neck, and causing it to discharge its acid contents into the alkaline solution in the tank.

A pipe, H, provided at its inner end with a strainer, h, and at its outer end with a rose or sprinkler, h, leads from the tank and delivers the fire-extinguishing fluid. The pipe preferably extends from the bottom of the tank out through the top, then down along the side and under it, having the sprinkler located centrally under the tank.

A cock, I, held normally open by the engagement of its arm-i with the armature J of the electro-magnet J, is located between the ends of the pipe on the outside of the tank. The magnet J is attached to the side of the tank, and is electrically connected by means of wires j with a battery, K, through a pushbutton, k.

A thermostat, L, is secured to. the tank, preferably on the bottom, and is electrically connected with the battery K by a wire, I, running from one contact of the thermostat through the electro-magnet G and call-bell M to one pole of the battery, and from the other contact directly to the opposite pole of the battery. The call-bell may be secured to the side of the tank, as shown, or it may be located at a hotel-office or other central station. In such an organization it is desirable that individual annunciators be provided to locate the room where the fire occurs. The battery may be supported on a bracket, K, on the tank. Feet a? are preferably provided on the tank, and serve to prevent the injury of the sprinkler and thermostat when the tank is lowered.

It will thus beseen that all parts of the apparatus are supported by the tank, and that the apparatus, as an entirety, may conveniently be moved from place to place and readily placed in position. The push-button may be located at any desired part of the room or outside of it.

The operation is as follows: When a fire occurs in the room where the tank is located, the thermostat L is automatically operated to close the electric circuit through the callbell M and electro-magnet Gr, whereby an alarm is given, and at the same time the hammer is released and thrown over upon the rod D, which in turn forces down the bottle upon the cross-piece 0, thereby severing the bottle and causing it to deliver its acid contents into thealkaline solution in the tank. The gaseous solution then rushes out through pipe H, and is delivered in a shower upon the fire through the sprinkler h. This continues until the contents of the tank are exhausted, or until an attendant arrives, who may stop the flow of the liquid, if desired, by closing an electric circuit through the electro-magnet J by means of the push-button k. The magnet draws its .armature away from the arm of the cook I, and the cock is turned off by means of a spring, 2'.

The apparatus shown in Fig. 2 is stationary. A large tank, N, is located in some suitable place in the building, and a pipe, 0, having a normally-open cock, 0, at the tank, leads from the tank through the several rooms of the building. Each room is provided with one or more branch pipes, P, each carrying a sprinkler, p, and a cook, 19, that is normally held closed by the engagement of its arm or handle 1) with the armature. q of an electromagnet, Q. A spring, g, on the cock-spindle turns the cock to open it, when its arm 10 is released from the armature. A battery, R, is located in the building-preferably near the tank-and in each room is placed a call-bell, S, and a thermostat, T. A normally-open electric circuit is made by wirest from one contact of the thermostat through the devices on the tank for splitting the acid-bottle, through the battery, call-bell, and electromagnct Q, back to the opposite contact of the thermostat. The series of thermostats, &c., may be connected with the battery by branch circuits, as indicated. The electric circuit may be continued to a central office.

When a fire occurs in any of the rooms, the thermostat in that room operates to close the electric circuit of the corresponding electromagnet, thus opening the cock, and at the same time the devices on the tank are operated to discharge the fire extinguishing fluid, which passes through the pipe down the open branch pipe, and is delivered through the sprinkler. If the fire spreads, the cooks in successive rooms are automatically opened andthe fire-extinguishing fluid is delivered where needed. The attendant having been called by the signal-bell may shut off the fluid from all the sprinklers by closing the cock 0 in the main pipe. 4

The organization herein shown is simple and efficient; but I do not limit myself to all the details of construction or the organization of apparatus, as many changes might be made without departing from my invention.

Ido not herein claim the organization shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, as this organization forms the subject-matter of an application for patent filed by me December 27, 1886, No. 222,658.

I claim as my invention- 1. A portable fire-extinguishing apparatus, substantiallyas herein set forth, consisting of the combination of the tank, the dischargepipe supported by the tank, the acid-bottle, the electro-magnetic devices for breaking the bottle supported by the tank, the battery carried on the tank, the thermostat attached to the tank, the electric connections whereby the electromagnetic devices are operated to discharge the fire-extinguisher, and devices for suspending the tank.

2. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the tank, the acid-bottle, the frame having a wedge-shaped cross-piece on which the bottle rests, the push-rod seated in the neck of the bottle and extending through the top of the tank, the hammer, the electro-magnet, its armature that engages with the hammer, and the thermostat electrically connected with the electro-magnet, whereby an electric circuit is closed through the electro-magnet,

so as to release the hammer and thereby cause 4 it to strike the bottle and force it down upon the cross-piece so as to break it, substantially as specified.

3'. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the tank, the supply-pipe, the normally-open cock located therein, the spring that tends to close it, devices for discharging the fire-extinguisher from the tank, the electro-magnet, its armature that engages with an arm of the cock, and electrical connections for withdrawing the armature from engagement with the cock to allow it to close.

4. The acid-bottle herein described for use in a fire-extinguishing apparatus, formed with a large base and tapering from the base to the neck, and having a groove across the bottom and a groove on each side connecting with the bottom groove, in combination with a frame having a wedge-shaped cross-piece that fits in the groove and on which the bottle is supported.

5. The combination of the tank, the acidbottle, the frame having a wedge-shaped crosspiece on which the bottle rests, the push-rod extending through the top of the tank and into the neck of the bottle, the spring interposed between the top of the bottle and the top of thetank, so as to hold the bottle steady, and means for automatically forcing the bottle down upon the cross-piece to break it, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub- 2 5 scribed my name.

, CHARLES EDlWIUN D KELLS, JR. WVitnesses:

E. J. BARNETT, Enw. DE ARMAI. 

